It's easy to demonstrate
objectively when individuals can't hear what they say they can when they are merely giving subjective reports. One simply employs a controlled experiment in which the listener has to choose which interval or sample of sound is "different." A step up from that is asking the listener to identify or label. The beauty is that there is an objective right or wrong answer in such tasks. It's not merely theory. These are objective measures. If you claim, subjectively, to hear a difference but you can't actually make the discrimination in a controlled setting, then other factors were mediating your report. The most difficult auditory conditions under which people can discern differences are open-ended comparisons of "running" sound, especially when the samples of sound are not identical. The conditions that are the most "sensitive" are those under which those factors are controlled. Yet, time and time again, decade after decade, the "golden eared" folks who claim to hear subtle differences under the most difficult conditions can't do so reliably under controlled conditions!
Changing cables, capacitors, tubes, etc. and claiming to hear a difference is entirely subjective. Most of the time, you know you made the change and you attend to different aspects of the signal under open-ended uncontrolled conditions. Bias becomes a huge factor.
Now, in the case of capacitors, it is the case that, where audio signals are concerned, there are some poor choices that can be made. Some are substantially non-linear and could alter what's heard. Assuming those poor choices are not made, the purported differences do little more than fuel the production and sale of grossly overpriced components. So it is with cables. If you compare a "standard" cable, of the brands and types discussed here to a poorly-made one with strange capacitance and/or impedance you might reliably discern a difference.
Sometimes theory does enter the picture. That's when objective measures of the signals reveal that any spectro-temporal differences are well beyond the ability of any human to discern them. This is not a "soft" science at all.
It's true that there is no point in trying to convert either side. People who want to believe something in the absence of any empirical, objective, or factual support and/or in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary will simply persist in doing so. There's no point in logical argument if logic is eschewed.
Remember the green highlighter on the edge of CDs.
If you hear differences among cables (leaving out strange designs intended to alter the spectrum), then you'll probably want to have one of
these right away.
Be sure to read the reviews from satisfied owners who "know" they hear the differences it makes.
So, if you "know" you hear differences among cables, then, by all means, buy the ones that make you happy and enjoy life. It won't cost all that much over time. Far be it from me to try to make you unhappy. The satisfied owners of the product I linked to above seem very happy as well.
).
